Stuck With You
by Flaming Trails
Summary: Jennifer, Lorraine, and Clara chat over coffee while Jennifer discovers what marriage is all about. Trilogy Universe, Back To The Fanfic Challenge Fic.


Stuck With You

A BTTF: Trilogy Story

By Flaming Trails

Disclaimer: I don't own BTTF. If I did, insert overly praiseworthy of BTTF action here .

_Notes: Written for the May 2007 backtothefanfic challenge. Yes, the title does come from the Huey Lewis song – it seemed appropriate. George's fear of hairdryers was inspired by the deleted longer Darth Vader scene on the BTTF DVDs – Marty threatened George with one, saying it was a heat ray. Clara's comment about the ice water came from my recent DVD cut of "Ich Liebe Dich."_

Tuesday, August 21st, 1990

Hill Valley

4:32 P.M.

"It's just so hard to wake him up in the morning!"

Clara and Lorraine both chuckled at the exasperated expression on Jennifer's face. "You don't have to tell me, dear," Lorraine said, sipping her coffee. "I have 20 years of experience trying to get to get him up."

"And I have my fair share of attempts too," Clara added. "He seems to stick to the sheets, doesn't he?"

"Like glue," Jennifer groaned. "It takes forever to get him out of bed and ready to go. No wonder he's late for everything." She sighed. "I also don't understand why he has to sing along to every song he likes on the radio. I mean, I like Huey Lewis myself, but I don't feel the need to play karoke every time he comes on!"

Lorraine laughed. "I see you've entered that interesting phase of marriage where you discover every little thing about your husband that ticks you off."

Jennifer couldn't help a smile. "Yeah, I think the honeymoon's over by now." She frowned thoughtfully at her friends as she grabbed another cookie. "Did you two go through this sort of thing with Doc and George?"

"Oh, you have _no_ idea. . . ." Lorraine groaned.

"I think everyone does," Clara said, dipping her cookie into her coffee. "My adjustment period with Emmett was probably more intense than most people's, because of our short courtship." She smiled and shook her head. "I severely underestimated how much time that man spends in his lab. I felt almost like a widow some days."

"I knew about George's love of all things science fiction," Lorraine said. "But I only realized it was something of an addiction when he nearly blew off a dinner with my parents for Science Fiction Theater."

"He _didn't_!" Jennifer gasped.

"He did. We were supposed to leave, and I found him glued to the TV, salivating over some alien story. I had to threaten to smack him one over the head to get him to move."

Jennifer laughed. "Marty gets that way if he hears a song he really likes on the radio. I guess he and George are more alike than I thought."

"I have a similar problem with Emmett," Clara said. "It's impossible to drag him away from a project. I'll wait up half the night for him to come to bed, fall asleep, wake up in the morning to find the bed still half-empty, then find him slumped over his workbench, snoring."

Jennifer nodded knowingly. "Yeah, Marty and I found him like that lots of times. Bet it drove you nuts."

"We actually had our first real knock-down, drag-out fight about it," Clara admitted. "I told him that if he was so married to his work, why did he even bother with me, and a number of other things I'm not exactly proud of. He didn't speak to me for the rest of the day."

"Did he sleep in the lab that night?"

"Actually, no, he slept in our bed. But let me tell you, it's hard to sleep next to someone that rock hard tense. After a very poor couple of nights' sleep, we worked things out."

Lorraine nodded, resting her chin on her hand. "I know all about that. I remember the first married fight George and I had. Just two weeks after the wedding and honeymoon. I loved telling everyone about how we met, and apparently George thought I was being a little too complimentary to Calvin Klein. He asked me if I'd prefer to be married to Calvin, and things just degenerated from there." She shook her head, scowling. "When he told me that whole date was a set-up, I was so mad I fled to Lou's and didn't come back for five hours."

"Yipes. How'd you get over it?" Jennifer asked, curious.

"Well, it turned out we'd each forgotten to mention something about that night – he didn't tell me Biff wasn't in on the plan, and I didn't tell him kissing Calvin was like kissing my brother. Once that was all out in the open, we managed to get over it."

"I see." Jennifer looked into her coffee. "Marty and I haven't had any real, huge fights yet. I suspect the first one's going to be about his leaving wet towels on the floor."

"You have my full permission to bust his ass for that one," Lorraine told her with a grin. "I could never get him to stop. Does he at least take his dirty clothes to the hamper?"

"Most of the time – occasionally he forgets, but he's generally pretty good about it." Jennifer smiled a bit. "I take it George isn't."

"Horrible. He's worse than any of our kids were. I keep telling him and telling me, put your clothes in the hamper when they need to be washed, but it never seems to sink in!"

"Well, Emmett knows to put his clothes in the hamper," Clara said, taking another sip of coffee. "The trouble is getting them off him in the first place."

"Oh, I know!" Jennifer said, accidentally dropping her cookie in her coffee. "Marty's the exact same way! Sometimes I wonder if he knows pajamas were invented!"

"George gets like that if he's working hard on a story," Lorraine nodded. "Come to think of it, when he was working on A Match Made In Space, I found him passed out at his desk a couple of times, just like Dr. Brown."

Clara smirked. "Obsessive personalities are so wonderful, aren't they? At least George doesn't make things explode on a regular basis."

"At least Emmett isn't terrified of hair dryers."

"And at least neither of them can get into a ten minute argument with a complete stranger over which version of Van Halen was better." Jennifer frowned as she finally retrieved her cookie. "Jesus – listening to us, it's a wonder we got married in the first place."

Lorraine patted Jennifer's hand. "It's okay, dear. Little complaint sessions like this are completely normal. It doesn't mean marriage is a bad idea."

"I guess, but – I know Marty and I have had our ups and downs before. We weren't really 'exclusive' until about a year into our relationship, and we had our share of mini-breakups. I guess I thought that, after about eight years of dating, marriage was supposed to be one big up. The be-all and end-all of everything."

Clara and Lorraine shook their heads. "Definitely not."

"Even with me and Emmett," Clara added before Jennifer could protest. "Love at first sight doesn't mean you'll overlook all your intended's faults. Trust me."

Jennifer nodded. "It just seems – unfair, I guess, that our husbands drive us so nuts."

"Well, it's all part of marriage," Lorraine said. "Sometimes, husbands do crazy things."

"Hey, we're home!"

Doc, Marty, and George came into the living room, followed closely by Jules and Verne. Doc and George held Martina and Johanna respectively. "Hi boys," Lorraine said cheerfully. "Did everyone enjoy the park?"

"Duckies!" was Martina's enthusiastic response.

Everyone laughed. "Yes, we all had a good time," Doc said, putting Martina down. "Though Jules's plane crashed near the river."

"Oh, dear. I'm sorry, Jules," Clara said with a frown.

"It's all right," Jules sighed, holding up the broken plane. "It flew great until it hit that branch."

"We'll fix it," Verne told him, patting his back. "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything."

Marty chuckled. "And so the phrase is passed to the next generation."

Jennifer frowned. "Marty, what are you holding behind your back?" she asked, trying to peek behind him.

Marty smiled and held out a small bouquet of lilies and dandelions. "I remembered you liked lilies, and they had a patch at the park, so I figured I'd get you some," he shrugged. "Tina and Hanna insisted on adding to it."

"Pretty flowers," Johanna agreed.

"They are," Jennifer said, accepting the flowers a bit breathlessly. "Thank you, Marty."

"We also picked up some stuff for supper," George said, holding up a couple of grocery bags. "Chicken fajitas good for everyone?"

"Sounds wonderful – we haven't had Mexican in a while," Lorraine said.

Clara started to get up. "Here, I'll start on things--"

Doc gently pushed her back down. "We've got it covered, dear," he said, kissing her. "You don't have to stop your conversation."

Martina tugged on Clara's skirt. "Mommy, up."

"Well, mostly."

"Want one of us to keep the terror twins busy?" George said, bouncing Johanna lightly.

"No, we can handle them," Clara smiled, helping Martina onto her lap. "Thank you, though."

"Here, George, let me take Johanna," Lorraine said, holding out her arms.

George transferred the toddler, then impulsively kissed his wife on the nose. "I ever tell you that you look better and better every day?"

Lorraine blushed. "Thank you, George."

Jules and Verne rolled their eyes at the open displays of affection. "We'll be in my room with the plane," Jules said.

"Okay. Good luck with the repairs," Clara said, keeping Martina's probing hands away from her coffee.

"Thanks." The two boys headed down the hall, bickering a little over what part to fix first.

"And we'll attack the kitchen," Doc said. "If all goes well, dinner will be ready in half an hour. I'd estimate 45 minutes, though, just to err on the side of caution."

"Smart move," Lorraine said. "We'll be looking forward to the results."

"Well, I don't have Clara's skill with a stove, but I'll give it my best," Doc grinned. "You girls have fun."

"We will, Emmett." Clara leaned up to give him a quick peck. "I love you."

"I love you too. I'm so lucky I found you."

"Same here, Lorraine," George nodded. "I love you."

"I love you too, George. Always have."

"Yeah, I think we can all agree with you there, Doc," Marty said, giving Jennifer a kiss and a squeeze. "I love you, babe. Want some water for your flowers?"

"Sure, thanks. I love you too." She, Clara, and Lorraine watched as the boys disappeared into the kitchen.

Lorraine grinned. "And then they do stuff like this, and you realize you're stuck with them for life."

"I know. Wow," Jennifer sighed, fingering the lilies' petals. "Though I still wish it was easier to wake him up."

"Well, actually, Emmett mentioned something about the sound of ice water in a cup once. . . ."

The End


End file.
